Senior captain Kaitlyn Martin looks to make her fourth NE-10 Championship appearance in tomorrow's match. |
Third-seeded Skyhawks seek sixth-straight championship appearance
EASTON, Mass. (April 24, 2014) – Third-seeded Stonehill College, ranked ninth in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II East Regional rankings, seeks its sixth-straight trip to the Northeast-10 Conference Championship match as it heads to second-seeded Adelphi University for semifinal round action of the 2014 NE-10 Women's Tennis Tournament at Adelphi Courts tomorrow at noon.
Admission for the NE-10 semifinals is free of charge and in the event of inclement weather, the match will be played at Sport Time in Syosset, N.Y. Stonehill (17-6, 10-2 NE-10), which is making its record matching 15th NE-10 Tournament appearance this week, has played in five straight NE-10 championship matches, winning last year's title with a 5-2 triumph at Southern New Hampshire University last April. The Skyhawks have appeared in the final eight times under the current tournament bracket format, also winning the title in 2009, and winning two championships under the old flighted points system in 1991 and '92 before the league switched to its present format in 1999.
Stonehill reached the semifinal round with a 5-0 sweep of sixth-seeded Bentley University in the Sally Blair Ames Sports Complex yesterday afternoon. Senior Kaitlyn Martin (Mattapoisett, Mass./Medway) and sophomore Analise Kump (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) both collected singles and doubles wins to lead the Skyhawks to their first round win. Martin clinched the semifinal berth with her 6-2, 6-2 win over Bentley junior Melanie Scott. Martin also teamed up with sophomore Bailey Paradiso (Birmingham, Mich./Marian) for an 8-1 triumph at No. 1 doubles. Kump earned Stonehill's first singles point with her 6-2, 6-2 triumph at No. 4 over freshman Rachel Petrini. She also teamed up with freshman Lorraine Smith (Littleton, Conn./D'Evelyn) for an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles to complete the Skyhawks sweep of the three doubles matches.
Five of Stonehill's six members of the singles lineup have earned All-Northeast-10 honors this season, led by the bottom half of the order which all were named to the first team. The Skyhawks have used 14 different doubles pairings over the course of the season, but feature two singles players who are unbeaten in NE-10 play this spring and a third with just one league loss.
Sophomore Analise Kump posted singles and doubles wins in Wednesday's first round win over Bentley. |
Martin leads Stonehill's three first team All-NE-10 performers this season with a combined 40-16 record in singles and doubles play. She has posted a 21-6 singles record, including 12-0 in NE-10 matches, having gone 12-3 at No. 5 singles this year. Martin is 19-10 in doubles play, including 8-4 in NE-10 play, with a 7-6 mark with Paradiso, her current partner. Martin is a four-time All-Northeast-10 performer and enters the postseason with a career combined record of 134-43 (.757), including 69-9 (.885) in NE-10 play, over her four seasons.
Paradiso, a third team All-NE-10 performer at No. 2 singles this season, owns a combined 32-18 in singles and doubles play this season, posting a 14-9 singles record, including 9-3 in league play, to go with her 7-6 doubles record with Martin.
Kump and Smith round out Stonehill's first team All-Conference performers at No. 4 and No. 6 singles, respectively. Kump is a combined 37-15 in singles and doubles play this season, posting a 21-7 singles record (11-1 NE-10) while going 5-1 at No. 3 doubles with Smith since the two were paired, including 4-0 in NE-10 play. Smith is a combined 24-6 in her first collegiate season, posting a 15-5 singles record (11-0 NE-10) to go with her doubles mark with Kump.
Junior Meryl Lawrence (North Scituate, R.I./Mount Saint Charles Academy), a three-time All-NE-10 performer with her second straight third team award at No. 3 singles, rounds out the five who have collected All-Conference honors for Stonehill this season. She is a combined 32-18 in singles and doubles play this season, posting a 16-10 singles mark (9-3 NE-10) to go with a 3-1 record with sophomore Kirsti Toegemann (Narragansett, R.I./The Lincoln School) at No. 2 doubles. Toegemann, the 20th-ranked singles player in the East Region by the ITA, rounds out the Skyhawks lineup at No. 1 singles.
Adelphi (12-5, 11-1 NE-10), ranked seventh in the NCAA Division II East Regional rankings and eighth in the ITA East Regional rankings, earned a first round bye as the No. 2 seed in the tournament along with regular season champions and top-seeded Merrimack College (13-4, 12-0 NE-10). The Panthers have played in all five NE-10 Tournaments since joining the Conference prior to the 2009-10 season, but seek their first trip to the Championship match with two previous semifinal round appearances.
Freshman Lorraine Smith earned two points for the Skyhawks in their regular season match at Adelphi. |
Adelphi is led by sophomore Katarina Barborikova (Puchov, Slovakia), a second team All-Northeast-10 performer this season, who is ranked 15th in the East Region by the ITA, at No. 2 singles. She is a combined 24-10 in singles and doubles play, posting identical 12-5 marks for singles and doubles, and going 11-1 in NE-10 singles matches. Barborikova and junior Charlotte Moreau (Lyon, France) have combined to go 8-3 at No. 1 doubles, including 8-2 in NE-10 play. Moreau is 7-7 in singles play, including 6-3 at No. 1, with a 6-3 league mark.
Senior Gaby Adia (Staten Island, N.Y./Notre Dame Academy) earned first team All-Northeast-10 honors for Adelphi at both No. 4 singles and No. 3 doubles along with junior Joanna Haich (Flushing, N.Y./Francis Lewis). Adia has posted a 12-5 singles record, including 11-1 in NE-10 play, with a 10-5 mark at No. 4 singles. She and Haich have teamed up for an 8-2 doubles mark, including 8-1 in league action. Haich, a second team All-Conference performer at No. 3 singles, has posted a 10-6 record overall, including 8-6 at No. 3, with a 9-2 mark in league play.
Tomorrow marks the third postseason meeting all-time between these two programs, all of which have come in the NE-10 semifinal round. Stonehill has won each of the previous two NE-10 Tournament meetings with a 5-4 triumph in 2011 with Martin notching a key win at No. 5 singles for the Skyhawks, and a 5-2 victory in 2010. Friday marks the first postseason encounter played at Adelphi. The Panthers rallied from a 2-1 deficit after doubles play to claim a 5-4 victory over Stonehill in the regular season meeting between the two on Long Island back on April 5. Moreau and Barborikova were both double-winners to lead Adelphi to the key regional win. The duo claimed the Panthers lone doubles win with an 8-1 victory at No. 1 and then Moreau followed with a 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles against Toegemann and Barborikova picked up a 6-1, 6-4 decision over Paradiso at No. 2 singles. Smith was a double-winner to lead Stonehill, combining with Kump for an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles before posting an 8-2 pro-set win at No. 6 singles against Adelphi freshman Jennifer Ferguson (Franklin Square, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy).
Top-seeded Merrimack is hosting fifth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University (13-7, 8-4 NE-10) in tomorrow's other NE-10 semifinal round match at North Andover High School at 2 p.m. The winners of the two matches will meet for the NE-10 Championship match on Sunday at the home courts of the highest remaining seed at 1 p.m.
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2014 Northeast-10 Conference
Women's Tennis Tournament
First Round
Wednesday, April 23
#3 Stonehill 5, #6 Bentley 0
#5 Southern New Hampshire 5, #4 Saint Michael's 0
Semifinal
Friday, April 25
#3 Stonehill (17-6, 10-2 NE-10) at #2 Adelphi (12-5, 11-1 NE-10), Noon
#5 Southern New Hampshire (13-7, 8-4 NE-10) at #1 Merrimack (13-4, 12-0 NE-10), 2 p.m.
Championship
Sunday, April 27
Semifinal winners at highest remaining seed, 1 p.m.